Chief Sam Onuigbo, a former member of the House of Representatives, commended President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday in Abuja for reconstructing the critical Achingali-Udo-na-Obizi-Umuwawa-Ubakala road.

The road linking major communities in Imo and Abia is important in the agricultural and commercial activities in the region.

The bridge linking the roads on Imo River was destroyed by a bomb dropped on Dec. 25, 1969, during the Civil War.

Onuigbo represented the Ikwuano/Umuahia North and South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and currently represents the South-East on the Board of the North-East Development Commission.

Onuigbo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it was gladdening that the Federal Government, led by the All Progressives Congress (APC), was keenly interested in reconstructing the road more than five decades after its destruction.

Onuigbo said the move indicated that APC was not as selective in the country's infrastructure development as it was perceived in some quarters.

“For decades after the war, the road was not reconstructed, but it is being reconstructed under this administration. President Bola Tinubu has shown extra interest in the project.

“It is a step in the right direction because the road is one of the most important roads in the southeast,’’ he said.

He also noted that it was interesting that the APC-led federal government was constructing a Federal Secretariat complex in Abia after previous administrations failed to do so.

“You can see that 34 years after Abia was created, the construction of a Federal Secretariat Complex is commencing under this administration as funds and efforts for its take-off have intensified.

The journey toward a federal secretariat complex in Abia started on Oct. 23, 2019, when Onuigbo, a House of Representatives Committee on Housing member, raised the issue among lawmakers.